Willet to White-M

Rondeau was the destination today.  Might as well take a chance that a pelican is around.  Yesterday Ric and Anne McArthur spotted a young Brown Pelican from their boat along Rondeau's south shore.  It probably kept going east though.

I decided to walk all the way out south beach this morning.  I have done that several times this year as it is quite interesting and has potential.  The marsh has filled in considerably, but still some spots to view.  I also got a fairly good look at the two islands in the Bay.

I guess the highlight on that walk was a single Willet on the shoreline.  I saw it as I walked back, and it eventually flew over to the mudflat in the marsh.

Several Black-crowned Night-Herons were out there and a few Great Egrets.  Lot of gulls around.

In fact, I checked the east beach of south point as well, and there were thousands.  Gulls to the right of me, gulls to the left of me....

Too many to sort through and I could not pick out anything unusual.

While out south beach, I encountered some Cicada Killer Wasps.  Although I must have seen them there before, this is the first time I have noted them. 

Burrough of one

Next stop was the Blenheim Lagoons.  Lots and lots of shorebirds around the edges of ponds 1 and 2 and back on pond 5.

Highlight here was a total of 8 Red-necked Phalaropes!  Five were in pond 2, and three in pond 5.  Most I have seen ever at Blenheim at one time.

There was also one juv Wilson's Phalarope in pond 1 plus a Black-bellied Plover among others.

Next stop was McGeachy Pond.  A few shorebirds there including another BB Plover.

Along the dike were a few butterflies including checkered skippers.  I found another White-M Hairstreak.  I think this is another due to some subtle differences.  The blue anal spot was more cut off in last week's insect.  This one was in the same general area but nectaring on goldenrod.

A snout was another good find.  I got this stellar photo today.

Snouts are generally rare in the Rondeau area compared to Pelee.

Fiery Skipper--dirt butterfly anymore!

I also slid over to Ridgetown, but just the usual common stuff there.

Point Pelee Scenes

Tawny Emperor

I picked today to head down toPoint Pelee to look for butterflies. It looks like Monday's are the the days to be there for butterflies, as some observers saw a huge number of immigrants.  But, as usual, I always pick the wrong day!  Mind you,there were still lots of butterflies today.

The invasion of Common Buckeye and Little Yellows continues.  I never thought that I would be tired of seeing Buckeye, but today I saw over 70.  The influx of Little Yellows is tremendous.  I saw at least 20 today.

Little Yellow

I worked the West Beach Trail and along the West Beach from south of Black Willow to the Tip. Yeserday, along that stretch, observers saw over 50 Little Yellows and over 200 Common Buckeyes!
Silver-spotted Skippers were in good numbers.  A few Northern Broken Dash were also seen.

Several Tawny Emperors and Hackberry butterflies were around.  As well, I probably saw over 30 American Snout.  The Snouts seemed to like the parking lots!

American Snout

No noteworthy birds were around, but Yellow Warblers were on the move.  Some were trying to fly off the Tip. As well. a couple of Blue-ray Gnatcatchers were at the Tip, likely attempting to migrate.

Along Lake Erie

melanistic Garter Snake (?)

I started at Rondeau this morning.  Migration sure has come to an abrupt halt.  Usually you still have quite a few migrants in the last few days of May, but I did not detect many today.  I heard a couple of Blackpoll Warblers at Rondeau, but that was it.  I did hear an Ovenbird, but perhaps that is one that is staying.  I saw one Common Loon flying over the lake.  Some non-breeding loons do stick around on the lake in the summer as well.
I was done there by 08:00!  So, it was off to Pelee to at least look for butterflies.   (I did see a couple of Hobomok Skippers at Rondeau).

Giant Swallowtail (missing a chunk!)

I headed down East Beach first thing.  Butterflies there included Spicebush Swallowtail, Giant Swallowtail, and Red Admiral.  One of the better dragonflies included Carolina Saddlebags.
Birds included a Horned Grebe off the pilings, heard one Blackpoll Warbler, and a Northern Mockingbird.  Most interesting was a Black Tern on the beach with a broken wing (?).

The south part of West Beach Trail was closed due to a certain function, unfortunately, as I wanted to check it for insects.
Heading north, I heard a Black-throated Green Warbler just south of Marsh Boardwalk turnoff.

Snout

After I had something to eat, I checked out the West Beach Trail south of Northwest Beach parking lots. 

Little Wood Satyr

A fair number of butterflies were there including about 15 Little Wood Satyrs and a Silver-spotted Skipper among other species.  I started off looking at a Snout.  I had one earlier along the road south of V.C.

Silver-spotted Skipper

Lots of dragonflies were around.

Common Green Darners

 Actually the last day or so there has been a huge emergeance of dragonflies.  There were thousands yesterday around Wallaceburg.  Not sure what species though.

Worn Out

I stopped at various places today, but the weather was too nice I guess. I did not see much in the way of birds or butterflies. (The weather forecast was wrong again...).

I added a new species of butterfly to the Reid CA list. It was a Snout, and it was very worn. I have seen at least 46 species of butterflies there this year.

The only bird of note there was an Orange-crowned Warbler.

At Port Lambton, a couple of Peck's Skippers were still hanging on. One was very worn, as the top photo shows.

Peck's Skippers at Port Lambton

Earlier in the week, I had a Tawny-Edged Skipper there. I did not realize they could still be around this late, but they are. This one was fairly fresh.
The only other skipper I saw today was a Silver-spotted. It was worn too! Must be a sign of fall, as everything is getting worn out. Still lots of time for butterflies though, and some rarities to boot!

Painted Lady